Year: 1996
Type: book
Abstract: Sorghum is the world's fifth most important cereal, \nin terms of both production and area planted. Millet, \na general category for several species of smallgrained \ncereal crops, is the world's seventh most important \ncereal grain. Roughly 90 percent of the \nworld's sorghum area and 95 percent of the world's \nmillet area lie in the developing countries, mainly in \nAfrica and Asia. These crops are primarily grown in \nagroecologies subject to low rainfall and drought. \nMost such areas are unsuitable for the production of \nother grains unless irrigation is available. Sorghum is \nwidely grown both for food and as a feed grain, while \nmillet is produced almost entirely for food. \nThe world sorghum economy can be broadly \ncategorized under two production and utilization \nsystems. Intensive, commercialized production, mainly \nfor livestock feed, characterize the developed world \nand parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. \nHybrid seed, fertilizer and improved water management \ntechnologies are used fairly widely, and yields \naverage 3-5 t/ha. Such commercialized production \nsystems cover less than 15 percent of the world's \nsorghum area, but produce over 40 percent of global \noutput. Roughly 40 percent of this grain is traded on \ninternational stockfeed markets. In sharp contrast \nare the low-input, extensive production systems in \nmost of the developing world (with some exceptions \nin Latin America and the Caribbean), where sorghum \nis grown mainly for food. While improved varieties \nare being adopted in such systems, particularly in \nAsia, management practices generally remain less intensive \nthan in the commercialized systems. Fertilizer \nrates are low and the adoption of improved moisture \nconservation technologies is limited. As a result, \naverage yields remain between 0.5 and 1.0 t/ha in \nmany areas.
Author: Policy Division
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W47641486